Spiders. It just had to be spiders.
Ever since she was a little girl, Allura had been terrified of spiders. Being a vampire princess with a natural born talent for magic meant little in the face of the eight legged menace. Everyone had always soothed her fears by reminding her how tiny and harmless most spiders were, how pretty the webs were, and how they ate flies and mosquitoes. But even so, the princess couldn't help but freeze up at the sight of a spider scurrying across the floor.
It was an embarrassing fear to have. Especially given the kind of work she had taken up. Someone who faced down monsters, evil spirits, and even demons without even twitching shouldn't be afraid of something so small.
But as things were, it was a fear the princess had never gotten over.
So naturally the castle's catacombs would turn out to be infested with spiders.
Giant spiders.
Giant man eating spiders.
It was just her luck.
Allura had never had to deal with giant spiders. She had deliberately attempted to avoid them for as long as possible. But she had researched them in the same way someone who was terrified of wolves would look into how best to defend themselves against them.
The giant spiders tended to live in groups which formed large complex web systems in which they caught their prey. Their webs were the strength of steel and could only be melted away by a strong enough heat. Even so being caught in one of their traps spelled almost certain doom for any wayward travelers.
Once trapped it wouldn't be long before before the spiders loomed over their victim and chose a suitable venom. Unique only to the giant spiders was the fact that they had multiple venom sacs within their body that they could switch between at will. Paralytic venom, acid venom, venom that would melt their prey's insides. Every possibly painful way to die existed in the poison sac of giant spider.
Needless to say they were an arachnophobes worst nightmare.
"Princess you're starting to hurt my arm."
Coming back to her senses, she realized that she'd been unconsciously clinging to Keith's arm and quickly released her grip. His eyes lingered on her for a moment before focusing once more on the path in front of them.
"How far do these tunnels go?"
"I'm not entirely sure." Allura replied, happy for the change in subject. "I know some of them are mapped out in the castle archives and lead out into the mountains."
"What about the one we're in right now? Any maps for where we're going?"
Her silence was all the answer he needed.
"Great. Just… Just great."
"Don't be like that. I'm sure I'll be able to find our way back."
Keith paused before sighing, "I'm going to die down here."
"Your confidence in me is overwhelming."
"Well can you blame me?!" His voice echoed off the walls, prompting Allura to cover his mouth.
They both waited.
Silence.
With a sigh of relief, Allura removed her hand.
Taking a moment to calm down, Keith began again with a whisper.
"Can you blame me? We're down here without a map or any idea where this spider's nest is with only a lamp and a knife for protection!"
"There's my magic."
"Your magic is the whole reason we're in this mess!"
Allura glared at him through the dark but said nothing.
There wasn't much she could say. Especially since Keith wasn't strictly wrong.
Her magic had crumbled the floor beneath their feet and sent them tumbling into the catacombs. It was only by some invisible nameless gods grace that the lamp happened to fall in with them and NOT shatter on impact. The fact that Keith always kept a knife and a lighter on his persona had also helped their situation immensely.
But now they were wandering blind through the catacombs constantly looking over their shoulders and jumping at even the slightest sound.
Really the whole situation was incomprehensible to Allura. The spell she had used had been a basic level earth spell. It shouldn't have had the destructive force necessary to crumble the floor.
The floor hadn't even been her target.
All Allura had wanted was to test the limits of her newly expanded magic reserves. Thanks to Keith becoming her blood-letter, the princess now had more magic than ever before. That meant that even her weakest spells were more powerful. But by how much?
The experiment had been simple. The previous night Allura had taken blood from Keith, fully restoring her energy. Then she had had Hunk place a large stone boulder on the castle's floor. After ensuring the area was free of any outer magic influences they had gotten under way.
Allura wasn't particularly skilled in earth magic. In fact it was arguably one of her weakest assets. But that was precisely why she'd chosen it for this particular experiment. Typically her earth spells could only crack boulders, but perhaps with her power boost she could do more.
She hadn't expected much in terms of improvement. Maybe just going from a small crack to a slightly larger one. But to have the spell bypass the stone entirely and break apart the castle floor was a shock.
It wasn't simply a matter of missing the mark. The spell in question should not have been capable of doing such extensive damage. Allura wondered if perhaps the problem hadn't been the spell but her.
She hadn't bothered to try any magic since Keith had begun living in the castle. Before that her powers had been subsisted almost entirely on chilled animal blood collected from the village butcher. But would the change from animal to human blood really case such a drastic change in power?
Allura supposed it might.
Never before had she actually used a spell powered by human blood. The increased strength was expected but the princess hadn't thought it would be by so much. Still it was the only explanation for how her magic had acted.
In a way this newfound power frightened her.
If a minor spell in an area she had little skill in could cause such destruction, what would her water or fire spells be like? She could end up flooding the castle and the surrounding area while just trying to fill a glass of water! Or burn down everything within a five mile radius while lighting a candle!
In order to prevent unnecessary destruction, Allura resolved to use as little magic as possible in the future. At least until she could get her own powers under control. Until then she'd have to rely on alternative means of self defense.
Which was going to be difficult given their current situation.
Keith stopped suddenly, prompting Allura to stop as well.
"What is it?" Her eyes darted around looking for some cause.
He slowly looked over his shoulder and gestured at the diverging paths in front of them.
"Which way?"
She gazed at the path ahead. It diverged into three different routes, all going in different directions.
"Uh…"
"C'mon, I don't wanna be down here all night."
Allura bit her lip. She'd been so caught up in her own thoughts that she hadn't paid attention to where they'd been walking. But she was sure that if she just thought about it she could easily-
"Wait, did you hear that?" Keith spoke suddenly and his head twisted around.
They both fell silent and listened intently. The sound of something scurrying through the cavern was steadily growing louder.
"Wh-which way is it coming from?!" Allura's eyes darted between all of the caverns.
Keith stiffened and slowly moved his head, eyes darting between the different passages.
"This way." He grabbed the princess's hand and hurried into one of the passages.
Allura allowed herself to be pulled along, trying to ignore the fact that the scurrying noises were now louder and much much closer than before.
The tunnel they had taken twisted and turned deeper into the earth, and as they descended the princess could feel the air growing cooler. She couldn't tell exactly how deep they were, but she could feel the chances of escaping slipping through their fingers.
Suddenly shifting direction, Keith pulled Allura to the side and blew out the lamp.
"What are you-"
Keith hushed her before pulling her into a natural alcove in the rock. They huddled down as the sounds came nearer.
And nearer.
And nearer.
Allura nearly sobbed in fear only for Keith's hand to cover her mouth and hold her tightly in his arms.
"It's okay." He seemed to be trying to say. "They can't see us. We're gonna be okay. You'll be okay."
He princess watched as three large forms scurried past them and deeping into the passage. One paused in front of their hiding place.
Keith held Allura closer, holding his own breath.
After a moment, the form scurried off in the same direction as the other two, and the two allowed themselves to breath once more.
"That was too close." Keith sighed. "Good thing this hole was here or they might've caught up with us."
Stepping out of his hiding place and looking down the cavern he grimaced before looking back where they came.
"We're going to need to backtrack. I don't know about you, but I am NOT interested in going in the same direction as those things."
There was a sniffle.
Keith paused and looked behind him.
"Princess?"
He could hear a gasp and the sounds of someone trying to suppress their tears.
"Are you ok?" Keith asked suddenly concerned.
Sure she was a vampire, but Allura was also a princess. Tossing a princess into a hole in the ground like a sack of flour, even during an emergency, wasn't the gentlest way to handle things.
Oh god what if he'd accidentally hurt her on the landing. Coran would KILL him.
He hear her sniffle again.
Padding around until he found the lamp and relighting it with the small lighter in his pocket, Keith turned to see Allura sitting huddled in the enclave. Crawling over to her, he placed a hand on her arm. The princess stiffened
"Allura?" Keith tried to make his voice as gentle as possible. "Are you hurt?"
She shoot her head.
"Then what's wrong? Why were you crying? And dont try and tell me you weren't."
Allura remained silent before finally speaking.
"I'm sorry." Her voice shook.
"For what?"
"For getting you trapped down here. For not being able to guide you safely out." Then with a broken sob, "For being scared."
Keith wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't sure if there was anything he could say. All he could do was sit uselessly at her side and hover.
"I… Allura come on." He tentatively placed his hand on her shoulders. "Look I can't blame you for being scared. I'm scared too. But we have to keep moving now okay?"
Allura didn't move.
"Look," Keith searched his mind for something to say. "I'm… your blood letter right?"
Hesitatingly, the princess nodded.
"So, that means I'm just as responsible for us being down here." Gently, he brushed a few strands of white hair from her tear stained face. "I mean it's MY blood."
"No I am the one who can not handle how strong my powers have become."
"Well, I mean sure but it's MY blood. I'm partially responsible by proxy." He shrugged. "Besides, if the powers too much then it's my fualt for giving you too much blood I mean if you por too much oil in an engine bad stuff happens. I think."
Allura chuckled, wiping the corners of her eyes.
"You are not much of an engineer."
Keith smiled, happy the princess's mood was lifting a little.
"No, I'm not. But its the same basic principle. He stood up, and offered her his hand. "Now come on. By now the others have probably started looking for us. Getting back up to the upper levels is probably gonna be our best chance to meet up with them."
Hesitatingly, Allura took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up onto her feet and for Keith to lead her back down the tunnel. Still holding her hand.